Gary Grigsby's War in the West

Product Info

Operation Torch, the expansion of Gary Grigsby's War in the West, is available! Check it out!

Gary Grigsby’s War in the West 1943-45 is the most ambitious and detailed computer wargame on the Western Front of World War II ever made. Starting with the Summer 1943 invasions of Sicily and Italy and proceeding through the invasions of France and the drive into Germany, War in the West brings you all the Allied campaigns in Western Europe and the capability to re-fight the Western Front according to your plan.

Thousands of feet above the battles on the ground, War in the West also covers the air war and the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Based on the War in the East engine with years of additional major features and improvements, War in the West provides players the chance to pick alternative strategies in both the land and air parts of the war. There is also an East Front Control option and tracking of the front line and the entire order of battle in the East for German players that wish to make the strategic decisions on how to balance their forces between the Western and Eastern Fronts.

With a new, highly accurate map of Europe, an incredibly detailed order of battle down to each squad, vehicle and plane, a very realistic logistics system (including rail usage, depots, trucks, ports and realistic interdiction), full modeling of the air as well as ground wars and a weather system that tracks and models individual weather fronts as they move across the map, War in the West is the new definitive wargame of the Western Front.

New Features and Improvements

Map
- Huge size (36k hexes versus 25k for War in the East)
- All the terrain types from War in the East, plus new terrain types for bocage, tundra, desert, sand, escarpment/impassable, and ferries
- Road Quality by Country impacts weather effects
- Improved weather graphics showing all effects on the map in each hex; ground, air and water (ice)
- Improved map projection that minimizes map distortion effects caused by using a flat map for a round world
- The map is built as a part of an enormous War in Europe map which is 378x355 hexes, a building block to a future "mega unprecedented scale" game (134k hexes)

Air War

- Comprehensive new air game with a separate air resolution phase
- Fixed airfields on map with additional construction possible
- Each Air Force HQ is given Air Directives which are used to generate missions
- Six Air Directives types - Ground Support - Ground Attack - Strategic Bombing - Air Recon - Air Superiority - Naval Patrol
- Seven Ground Attack target types that are prioritized by the player - Ground Units – Airfields – Railway – Railyards – Ports – Ferries - General Interdiction (interdiction of units, reserves and resupply)
- Strategic Bombing can prioritize between 14 target types
- Tracking of pilots
- Level of player involvement can be tailored by use of Auto Air Direction Creation screen to quickly generate Air Directives based on top level priorities
- Air Doctrine screens allow quick adjustment to standard mission profiles, as well as control over pilot training

- 8 Weather Zones, Weather Fronts and per hex weather conditions at a higher resolution than War in the East
- 6 Ground Conditions impacting ground unit movement and combat
- 6 Air Conditions impacting flying conditions and water and snow levels on the ground
- Ice Conditions in Rivers
- Weather determined by a combination of weather zones and 5 possible weather fronts that move across the map, with water/mud and snow levels tracked dynamically in each hex

Axis Garrisons
- Garrison Regions - requires minimum garrisons in combat value of troops – changes over time and with major events.
- Garrison Cities - requires security units and a large garrison – also changes over time
- Not fulfilling garrison requirements will increase partisan attacks on rail in the area as well as costing substantial victory points

East Front Control Option (For Long Campaigns)
- East Front Screen provides info on German forces, front line and Soviet offensive potential
- Units may be moved between fronts. Player chooses which if any German units on the East Front are pulled back to refit.
- Soviet controlled hexes are shown on the map
- When using EFC Option, game ends when Berlin falls or can last until the beginning of August 1945. When not using the EFC Option the game ends in early May 1945 (or earlier if Allies capture Berlin) and movement of units between fronts is based on historical movements.

Amphibious and Airborne Landing Rules
- Amphibious and Airborne Prep Points and Target Hexes
- Airpower Impact on Naval Movement
- Amphibious HQs with Naval Support, Temporary Ports and Mulberry Harbors
- Commando and Ranger supporting landings
- Separate Amphibious and supporting airborne landing phase at start of other player’s turn
- Coordinated airborne landings with non-amphibious forces during own turn
- Multi-role support units that can switch between off-map support and on map unit status
- Large Multi-role units divide into 3 parts when made support units (break brigade/regiment into 3 battalions)
- Support ranger and commando units have special amphibious abilities

East Front Progress (when EFC Option is in use)
- Timing of Fall of Berlin

Artificial Intelligence
- AI manages not only tactical and operational decisions, but also strategic decisions involving different invasion locations and strategies
- AI can be used to assist the player in creation of Air Force Directives based on player selection of target priorities

Features

It is an enhanced War in the East system with more comprehensive air and naval operations and supply systems

Scale is Division/Brigade/Regiment with supporting Battalions, but modeled down to the last man, tank and gun.

There are 14 Allied and 5 Axis nationalities in the game.

It includes a fully featured scenario editor

There are optional rules to allow you to control the allocation of forces to the east front, or let it stay historical. If you manage it by hand, allocating troops slows the Soviet advance and removing them hastens it, all shown on a global strategy map.

Suggestions

Gary Grigsby's War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is the spiritual heir to the great Eastern Front board and computer wargames of the past; a turn-based World War II strategy game down to the division and brigade level, stretching across the entire Eastern Front at a 10km scale. Gamers can engage in massive, dramatic campaigns, including intense battles involving thousands of units with realistic and historical terrain, weather, orders of battle, logistics and combat results.

Digital Express Edition: This edition comes with a full color printed box, full color printed CD (with your order number and serial number printed on it) and a PDF E-Book indexed manual.

Standard Edition: This edition comes with a full color printed box, full color printed CD (with your order number and serial number printed on it), a Printed grayscale manual and a PDF E-Book indexed manual.

Collector's Edition: This edition comes with a full color printed box, full color printed CD (with your order number and serial number printed on it), a Printed full color manual and a PDF E-Book indexed manual.